Between Two Worlds Kafadar.pdf

comparison of Byzantine and Ottoman accounts of Orphan's alliance with
Kantakouzenos, and Lefort and Foss's explorations of the chronicles on the basis
of Bithynian archeology are other examples.[120] The detailed analyses of
Yerasimos, who compares the
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different versions of the Ottoman genealogy and of the legends about Hagia
Sophia, also succeed in shedding significant light on the ideological programs
of different chroniclers.[121]
The Case of Osman and His Uncle
While the Ottoman chronicle tradition should be treated with extreme caution, we
cannot forget that it contains some of the precious few things we have on early
Ottoman history. Rather than dismissing it, we ought to venture boldly into the
wrinkled space of its textual intricacies, compare variants in detail, focus on
choice of stories, words, and even spelling if promising, and try to ascertain
what if anything these may reveal of early Ottoman realities. This is a road
filled with traps and there are bound to be dead ends and wrong paths taken. And
most of what one cay say in the end will remain hypothetical. But isn't giving
up on this task even less rewarding?
Take the fascinating case of Osman's competition with his uncle Dündar, for
instance. It is related by Nesri , but missing in all of the known earlier
chronicles, that after Ertogril's death, some wanted Osman and others Dündar to
be the new beg. Realizing that Osman had strong support, the uncle gave up and
accepted his nephew's chieftainship.[122] The reconciliation seems to have been
superficial because in a later episode we read that Osman, annoyed by the
patronizing attitude of the (Christian) lord of Bilecik, wanted to seize him,
but Dündar argued that they already had enough enemies and could not afford to
make any more. Osman interpreted this response, Nesri writes, as his uncle's
wish to undermine the young man's political bid (literally, his "coming out,"
huruc ). So he shot his uncle down with an arrow and killed him.[123]
Where does Nesri get these pieces of information about Osman and Dündar which
are not to be found in any of the earlier sources known to us? Could he have
made them up? To make the post-Mehmed II practice of fratricide seem more
palatable? This is not impossible, but a much more likely explanation is that
Nesri had access to some early traditions which the chroniclers chose to edit
out of their texts.[124] Besides, why would Nesri , if he were fictionalizing to
legitimize fratricide, not have Osman kill his brother Gündüz, especially in the
episode when the two disagree, just like Osman and Dündar, on the course of
action to be taken vis-à-vis their neighbors? Furthermore, writing slightly
later than Nesri and using his chronicle, Ibn Kemal relates not only Nesri's
version of this story but also another one with the same ending.[125]
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There were dearly "Osman and Dündar" stories that did not make it into the texts
of Apz, Uruç, and the anonymous chroniclers. Whether the stories were true or
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